48,000 Lumads go to Davao City for Christmas

Derek Alviola

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

48,000 Lumads go to Davao City for Christmas
Known as Lumads, these natives go down to the city proper from the mountains to ask for financial contributions and other Christmas presents like old clothes, food items, and other goodies

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – It’s like an annual Christmas exodus from the mountains.

About 12,000 families or 48,000 indigenous people are huddled like evacuees within the urban districts of Davao City. But this is not to prepare for a disaster – it’s their way of celebrating the Christmas season.

Locally known as Lumads, these natives go down to the city proper from the mountains to ask for financial contributions and other Christmas presents like old clothes, food items, and other goodies.

Most of them, including children, ply the streets all day long to sing yuletide carols in exchange for alms and donations from the city residents. Some mothers engage in selling their crop produce and other by-products, which they display and sell with their co-natives while in Davao City. 

MAKESHIFT MARKET. Grounds outside the gym are turned into a  makeshift market during the day where mothers sell their crop produce and other by-products.

At night, they are accommodated in covered courts spread across 8 barangays – Bangkerohan, Buhangin, Bunawan, Matina Aplaya, Toril, Mintal, Tugbok and Calinan. Some of them have been staying in those areas since December 4. They are expected to return to their homes right after Christmas or on December 26 via vehicles provided by the city government.

Aside from temporary shelters, the city government also provides them with daily food rations composed of rice, noodles and canned goods – enough to feed a family of 4.

Experiencing city life

According to Rey Rigor, project coordinator for the reception of Lumads, it is the annual practice of natives to go to urban areas to experience city life.

“They go down every year to experience Christmas in the city. They go to Rizal Park for picture-taking and they also visit other places to witness city lights,”  Rigor said in a phone interview.

Rigor added, “They also go carolling for clothes and any other donations that can be given to them so that they can bring something when they go back to the mountains.”

24-KILOMETER WALK. A family from Sitio Opian in Barangay Marilog takes a whole day walk to Barangay Calinan to spend the holiday season there.

A family of 12 was spotted walking in Barangay Biao Escuela heading towards Calinan gym. The most senior woman in the group gladly shared her reason for going down to the city proper every December.

“Mayor Duterte asked us to come down to the city so that our children who are still in growing years can be trained in speaking Visayan. Every year we go down to the city so that our children will not become ignorant of the Visayan way of life, they can also see moving vehicles and be trained,” she said.

Lumads, a strong voting bloc?

Rayman Luna, a tricycle driver from Mintal who has been observing this annual practice, believed that Lumads represent a strong voting bloc in local elections.

“The reason why the Dutertes were always winning here in Davao is because of how they take care of the Lumads. There are too many natives in the mountains so if they support you solidly, you will surely win the election,” Luna said.

Contrary to rumors that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is encouraging the Lumads to go down to the city every December as a favor, Rigor said that the Mayor does not encourage such practice but only requests city residents to accept the Lumads while they are here especially  in view of the Christmas season.

“We prepare every year not to tolerate the practice but to properly organize them. We have an anti-discrimination ordinance here in Davao that everyone should abide to so whatever service we can provide, we give it to them because they deserve to be protected somehow,” Rigor added.

FAMILY MEAL. A family sheltered in the Barangay Mintal gym eagerly shares the daily food rations from the Davao City LGU.

Professor Ryan Christopher Maboloc of Ateneo de Davao University agreed, saying that the the Davao city government is doing what it can to keep the Lumads safe. 

Maboloc said that mainstream society should not treat them as outsiders. As citizens, no one can prevent their freedom of movement, he added, further  arguing that more than a local issue, this social pathology is a reflection of a bigger problem of inequitable development.

“What is NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) doing about this? They should intervene on this matter by gathering stakeholders and not just rely to the local government for basic support. It is NCIP who should provide guidance and direction to this problem so that we can look for long term solutions,” Maboloc said.

Numbers steadily growing

Rigor said the biggest challenge the city government faces is the growing numbers of Lumads going down to the city each year. Back in 2007, when he was first involved in receiving the Lumads, he recalled that they only responded to roughly 4,000 families. But today, their numbers had tripled to include other natives coming from the neighboring provinces.

The project coordinator said that natives now come from Aracan Valley, Bukidnon, Kalaingod in Davao del Norte, Agusan, and Surigao provinces.

With this in mind, Barangay Captain Ramon Bargamento of Mintal said proper preparation and management is the key to organizing the Lumads every time they go down to the city.

In his case, he said, he prepares ahead of time by assigning “point persons” from his barangay and a counterpart from the natives to be in charge of cleanliness, sanitation, health, and security.

“I even remind the natives that since they are staying within my barangay, they should follow our rules because they belong to my community while they are staying here,” Bargamento said in an interview

REGULAR MONITORING. Mintal Barangay Captain Ramon Bargamento frequently checks the situation inside the gym to implement order and ensure safety of his transients.

Joy Adan of the Davao City Social Services and Development Office assured that the basic needs of the Lumads are looked after by the local government. She said a health desk is stationed at the back of the gym and that huge electric fans are provided along with an LCD projector to make them feel comfortable and entertained.

Talking to leaders

Maboloc said rectifying this annual dole-out practice will require using grassroots democratic mechanisms like talking to the council of elders of the different tribes.

“Clearly, there’s a mixed signal here. On one hand, as individuals we would like to help them. On the other hand, we cannot just tolerate the practice because we are subjecting them to a lot of risks. We have to respect the basic dignity of indigenous peoples but at the same time, institutional mechanisms should be set in place because this is an issue of social justice,” he said.

Maboloc also thinks that Davao city officials can have a dialogue with the communal leaders because by tradition, the Lumads listen to their elders.

“If the LGU and civil society will educate the elders about the dangers involved every time they go down, I think it will spell a difference,” he said.

Maboloc added: “Davao City is very known for implementing the rule of law. The Mayor has succeeded in implementing a smoking and firecracker ban here in the city. I think it is now time to correct this practice.” – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!